1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of portable containers for transporting medicine vials of differing sizes and protecting them from environmental damage. In particular, the present invention is directed to a container for transporting liquid medicine in a temperature controlled environment.
2. Background Art
There are certain physical conditions or ailments, such as diabetes, allergies, etc. that require regular applications of medicine. In addition, it may also be required that certain counteractive agents be available should emergency situations arise. For example, a person who is allergic to wasp stings must have quick access to medication in case of a wasp sting. In addition, regular and repeated applications of medication may be required, either orally or through injection. Persons with diabetes take insulin by injection, in order to control blood sugar level. Other physical conditions may also require the repeated application or availability of medication either on a life long or temporary basis.
Many medications, however, are subject to rapid degradation of their beneficial properties as a result of temperature and other environmental conditions. Other medications may be sensitive to light and still others may be sensitive to a combination of light and temperature. Further, many types of medication, particularly those taken by injection are stored in glass vials or bottles which are subject to breakage if dropped or otherwise traumatized.
As a result, the mobility of those people requiring a constant availability of medication is severely restricted. For example, for one allergic to insect bites, medication must be administered within minutes and sometimes seconds after an insect bite to prevent severe complications or even death. Likewise, a diabetic must remain near a source of insulin in order to receive regular injections or an emergency injection should blood sugar level dictate. Therefore, it is desired to provide a means of storing medication such as wasp sting serum and insulin along with means of administering it in a protective carrying case so that people who require medication may travel about with a supply of such medication.
However, insulin for example, like many other medications must be kept cold in order to maintain its effectiveness. Therefore, people who wish to travel about in warm temperature require some means of transporting insulin in a temperature controlled environment to maintain it at a desired temperature.
In addition, insulin manufacturers warn against freezing insulin. Therefore, it is desired to provide a means of transporting insulin in cold weather which will prevent it from reaching the Freezing point. Thus, a portable medicine protector is desired to keep cool temperature in and keep freezing temperatures out.
Another difficulty is that medicine is typically kept in glass vials which come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. By way of example, a person might have need for more than one different type of allergy medicine if they suffer many different allergic reactions. At the same time, although a person may only need a single medication such as insulin, different batches of the medicine may come in different size vials. Finally, it may also be necessary to store the medicine applicator (e.g., a syringe) in the same type of protected container as the medicine itself. Having a different transportation device for each different type of medicine or different size vials is for obvious reasons undesirable. Therefore, any device for transporting the medicine should be able to accommodate different sized and shaped vials and prefilled type syringe-pen systems.
There have been a number of efforts in the prior art to provide a portable medicine carrier and protector for insulin and other medicines. For example, Taylor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,998 is directed to a diabetic travel kit comprising an outer insulated container and an inner container having a ring shaped chamber containing coolant. A compartment is provided in the ring shaped chamber for receiving an insulin bottle. The outer container is insulated to help maintain the temperature of the inner chamber.
Campbell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,158 discloses a portable pouch for storing insulin and syringes. The pouch includes a central space filled with insulating material and a central space for inserting an ice pack for temperature control. Ehmann, U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,793 is directed to a diabetic traveling case comprising an insulated zippered case. A plastic container filled with liquid is frozen and inserted into the case. Containers of insulin are also inserted into the case next to the frozen container. Sheehan, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,954 is directed to a portable medicine cooler which has an insulated compartment coupled by means of a heat sink to a second compartment filled with frozen jell, ice or other coolant.
Finally, Yeager, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,364 discloses a medicine carrier for storing and transporting medicine in a controlled temperature environment. The medicine carrier includes a protective insert which is filled with a liquid such as water or BLUE ICE which is frozen. The protective insert includes a cylindrically recessed area for receiving bottles of insulin. The protective insert is placed within a carrying case.
Although the above patents illustrate the recognized need for a portable medicine carrier and protector, none provides a storage environment which both protects from extremely high as well as extremely low temperatures, while allowing several different medicine vials of differing sizes to be transported.